Neighbours

He headed to Erinsborough when news arrived that Madge was about to marry his high school rival Harold Bishop. Determined not to lose out to the nerdy vegetarian he liked to call “Jelly Belly”, he put up a valiant fight. However, Harold was the successful suitor and Lou beat a hasty retreat. Although he became very close to Madge in the days after Harold’s disappearance at sea, he realised that he would always be her second choice and never seriously pursued their relationship again.

Despite the fact that maverick Lou isn’t often seen as responsible enough to look after himself, never mind children, he’s hugely proud of his son Guy and daughter Lauren. He was also delighted, if somewhat astonished, to meet Ling Mai, a daughter he had conceived during the Korean War but whose existence he had been entirely unaware of for many years. In addition to his biological children, Lou has been a surrogate father for other Ramsay Street residents such as Beth Brennan and Rick Alessi, not to mention Brett, Danni and Darren Stark, the children of his long-term partner Cheryl.

However, it is his relationship with the Starks’ sister Louise (Lolly) that it the most complicated. Lou believed that he was Lolly’s father for many years, even offering Cheryl all of his assets in return for custody when they separated. Although they eventually agreed that Lolly would be better off with her mother, when Cheryl was killed, Lou was left custody of the little girl in her will. It was years later that DNA tests proved Lolly was not Lou’s daughter at all and she was taken away to live with her real father.

Not that the rest of Lou’s life has run much more smoothly. In business he has turned his hand to everything from selling used cars, to radio presenting, to running a pub, to property investment and has veered between being a self-made millionaire and being bankrupt. In love he faced old foe Harold again for the fair hand of Reverend Rosie Hoyland. He married Nina Tucker’s mother Trixie and invested heavily in her production of Hello Dolly. When the show flopped he lost his money and his wife.

Indeed, for all their rivalry, it is Lou’s relationship with Harold that endures. Amid the bickering they’ve shared a great deal, from a pair of kidneys to their current enterprise, the General Store. When Paul tried to put them out of business in revenge for Harold trying to kill him, it was Lou that came out fighting. With the help of his Russian internet lover Mishka, he won back the shop for them both. Sadly, despite their attempts to fake evidence of a twenty year relationship, Mishka’s visa application was denied and Lou is currently forced to take regular trips to Moscow to visit her.

Just when larrikin Lou was starting to feel a little low about his lonely life, Lolly reappeared. Unbeknownst to Lou, the beautiful teenager was struggling with her abusive step-mother and she escaped to Erinsborough on the pretence of simply spending some time with her second dad. Lou was only too delighted to feel like a father again but when Lolly’s mistreatment came to light, everything changed. While Lolly was enormously grateful to Lou for believing in her and for supporting her through her struggle, her old home regained some of its appeal and she returned to live with her real dad John.

Thankfully Lou found a new role to fill when Mickey Gannon arrived on the street. Lou involved Mickey in a Russian hat money making scheme that gave them all lice but the bond between them has been unbreakable ever since. Lou became Mickey’s surrogate grandfather and even moved in to Number 26, cementing his place as an important part of the Parker family.

While Lou has gained a family in the Parkers, he has lost his best friend Harold. Now that Harold has gone travelling around Australia (and taken Valda Sheergold with him), Lou is the sole representative of the senior generation of Erinsborough. And who knows what mischief he’ll get up to without Jelly Belly’s stabilising influence…